BMBC 21: Barnsleys Local Area Agreement 2008-2011

BrandingIf the Council and its partners were a commercial organisation with acommercial product to sell, these would be a recognition of the need tobuild the “Barnsley brand”. A “brand” is a way of working, a consistentapproach to dealing with customers, a promise, with seriousconsequences for satisfaction with the brand if the promise is broken. Ittakes many years and considerable investment to build a brand, but allthat work can be destroyed in minutes if the customer experience orlevels of satisfaction are compromised.The delivery of an excellent customer experience requires thecommitment of all partners. One Barnsley has established a BarnsleyBrand sub-group of the board, to take this agenda forward. This groupconsists of representatives from across the One Barnsley partnershipincluding Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce andIndustry, Barnsley Council and Barnsley College. The group has beencharged with working up how the LSP can develop the Barnsley Brandconcept and will report at regular intervals into the Board.Communicationcommunications, internal communications and corporate branding. ThePlan is being implemented, with key activities around a more effectivecommunications network; further information campaigns on Councilpriorities and activities; more communications/media training forMembers and officers; new corporate brand guidelines; and improvedinternal communications including core briefs and team briefings. Thisis being further complemented by the Council’s Zero Based ActivityReview which is currently being undertaken. Findings and futureproposals are due to be implemented later in the year.Furthermore, a systematic and audited approach will be adopted for theprovision and dissemination of public information about the Council’sservices and new approaches, including direct marketing to key opinionThe Council is also participating in the Local Government Association’sReputation Campaign which is encouraging councils to improve theirimage, reputation and perception amongst its audiences bystrengthening their activities in a number of key areas, including mediarelations, community publications and neighbourhood cleaning.Effective Communication – Raising AwarenessA Best Value Review of the Council’s communications function wasconcluded in late 2006, resulting in a comprehensive improvement plancovering a wide range of improvement activities across external115Building the Barnsley Brand Barnsley’s Local Area Agreement 2008-11